August 27, 2013

Restaurant Week: Ogden's Hops & Harvest

Our second Restaurant Week meal was at Ogden's Hops & Harvest in Tivoli Village. We never dined at Bradley Ogden when it was open at Caesars so I was anxious to try his famous blue cheese soufflé. I made reservations via opentable, 7:00 was booked so I chose 7:30. When we arrived about 15 minutes early we were seated right away. There was only one other table dining at the time. A bit odd, but our server was bubbly and friendly. She warned us that several beers were out. My choice, Summerfest, was no issue, but Frank wanted an IPA. All out. Four varieties. Also, out of his next two picks. Summerfest, it is.
Our server was very apologetic and mentioned that keg orders won't come in until the new month. Frank watched enough Bar Rescue's he pressed the issue; asking about keeping inventory at par. She had no idea. Hopefully, management can get it together, a place with Hops in the name should have kegs on hand at all times. Customers like to drink hoppy beer at the end of the month too. Frank also found that they were out of paper towels in the men's restroom as well. They must be coming in with the kegs.
The restaurant week menu is three courses for $40.13
We got started with the Blue Cheese Souffle and Corn soup with shrimp. I liked the roasted fennel and fruit salad that accompanied the soufflé, but the soufflé itself seemed to be lacking something. A crunchy salty crust would've been nice. The soup was served room temperature. I don't know if that was intentional. It had nice flavor from the sweet corn and the shrimp were grilled to perfection.
For the main course, Frank chose the steak (medium rare) and potatoes, and I had the roasted halibut with medley of vegetables. The fish was good, nicely prepared and seasoned. I liked the vegetables, but not the chickpeas. They were too bland. The potatoes that came with the steak were French fries. The steak had good flavor, but it was inedible because it was so chewy. I've never encountered anything like it. We had it removed from our bill. They offered something else from the menu, but he had lost his appetite.
Dessert was Butterscotch Pudding and Devil's Food Cake with walnuts and vanilla ice cream. I was a bit nervous to order the pudding fearful that it would be overly sweet, but it was a pleasant surprise. It was creamy with a well balanced butterscotch flavor. The cake was pretty good with ice cream, but the pudding was the better dish.
It had the potential to go right, but it just didn't. I'd expect more from a restaurant with a chef of this caliber. Pretty plates isn't enough in Sin City. There is just too much competition.